The Merthyr Vale Colliery was the vision of John Nixon, a coal
mine pioneer who began work on sinking the Merthyr Vale No. 1 pit
in 1869, following the River Taff being diverted. Nixon, who also
had four other coal mines in the South Wales coalfield, would
eventually become the sole owner of the mine when Nixon's, Taylor
and Co. became Nixon's Navigation Coal Co. Ltd. He saw the
potential of the land and wanted to create a lasting legacy by
creating one of the biggest, deepest and most productive mining
collieries in the country.

Early Days

The first coal was produced and brought to the surface in 1875;
six years after the hard work of sinking began. The colliery itself
is one of the main reasons that Aberfan and Merthyr Vale exist
today, as the communities were created for and maintained by the
support from the mine. By the mid 1890s, mine inspectors reported
that over 2000 men and boys worked in Pits No.1 and No.2 both above
the surface and underground, with those underground working at a
depth of up to 542 feet.

The colliery remained in Nixon's name until the early 1930s, at
which time ownership changed hands to the Powell Duffryn Steam Coal
Company. Upon Nationalisation in 1947, the National Coal Board
became the proprietors of Merthyr Vale Colliery.

During the 1960s, Merthyr Vale Colliery underwent a £2 million
re-organisation that would transform how the mine functioned and
the miners worked. From that point, the mine would benefit from
electrification of the winding engines, additional coal preparation
and wagon-loading facilities and a brand-new underground coal
conveying system.

The End

The colliery was affected during the miner's strikes of the
1980s, and despite local newspaper reports of the mine being in
good stead for years to come following the conclusion of the
strikes, the colliery never quite recovered and as a result,
stopped production and was shut at the end of the decade. The
Merthyr Vale Colliery closed for the final time on 25th August
1989.

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